grace period

noun

: a period of time beyond a due date during which a financial obligation may be met without penalty or cancellation

Examples of grace period in a Sentence

The terms of the loan allow for a ten-day grace period.

Recent Examples on the Web

The administration also created a grace period that would prevent borrowers from going into default during the first year of post-COVID repayment. —Monica Potts, ABC News, 9 Apr. 2024

The bond was lowered by an appellate court from the $464 million figure to $175 million on March 25, hours after Trump missed a grace period deadline extended by New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office brought the case. —Graham Kates, CBS News, 1 Apr. 2024

Surprising Fact Federal law gives defendants 30 days to pay a judgment against them before plaintiffs could start taking action to recover the money they’re owed, but New York state law doesn’t have a similar grace period. —Alison Durkee, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024

The law, effective this year, has a 12-month grace period before violators get dinged with costly parking tickets tucked under their windshield wipers. —John Woolfolk, The Mercury News, 6 Feb. 2024

The record’s date shows Suarez cut the $14,000 check to Griffin after the Herald first asked questions about potential ethics violations, but within the 90-day grace period for repayment to avoid penalties. —Sarah Blaskey, Miami Herald, 22 Mar. 2024

Because there’s a grace period in both cases, the most recent information dates back to earlier this year, before the TikTok vote. —Thomas Germain / Gizmodo, Quartz, 22 Mar. 2024

Senators voted 18-22 against legislation that would have banned electronic voting machines and remote ballot drop boxes while eliminating the three-day grace period for mail-in ballots. —Katie Bernard, Kansas City Star, 5 Mar. 2024

After a grace period, songs that were penned in part by UMPG’s songwriters are now suffering the same fate. —Elias Leight, Billboard, 27 Feb. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1907, in the meaning defined above

Legal Definition

grace period

noun

grace pe·​ri·​od

: a period of time beyond a scheduled date during which a required action (as payment of an obligation) may be taken without incurring the ordinarily resulting adverse consequences (as penalty or cancellation): as

a

: a period of 30 days or one month during which premiums on insurance policies may be paid without penalty

b

: a period of ten days during which certain security interests (as those in fixtures) must be perfected in order to have priority over conflicting security interests under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code

called also days of grace